TOWARDS A NEW DESIGN OF EDUCATION (8)
Great Expectations 3.01 There is today a clamour, across the nation, that the existing education system must be replaced by a better one. The repeated assurances that the Government is indeed in search of a more relevant and functional system, has raised expectations to a high level. This is what has prompted us to engage in a brief reflection on some of the dimensions of a new educational deal for our people. The existing system, where 60-65% of the students drop out during the elementary stage (6-13) and an additional 23-28% either drop out or are pushed out at the secondary sage (14-16) and where a large number of school leavers every year remain without work and what is even more tragic, in many cases, are really unemployable for any good productive work, obviously does not serve the educational needs of our people.
3.02 The present effort at evolving a new design and new policy directions should fully take stock of the status quo in education. In this search, we suggest that the following criteria be kept in mind as a frame of reference :
(i) The national system should provide education, in actual terms, to the majority of the people if not for all, and not serve the interests of a minority only.
(ii) It should provide an education that is truly developmental enabling the student to discover, develop and discipline his abilities and powers for self development and productive work.
(iii) It should on the one hand, conform to nationally prescribed minimum standards applicable to all parts of the country and on the other, provide for regional and local variations. This will add to the relevance and meaningfulness of schooling.
(iv) It should have organised and planned linkages with business and industry so as to meet the job requirements of the world of work.
(v) The total system should function as an organic integrated whole, flexibility replacing the rigidities of today, so as to ensure mobility, not only vertical mobility within a sub-system, but also lateral mobility from one sub-system to another, for purposes of farther education or training.
(vi) It should effectively contribute, to national development, by improving continually the, quality of life and standard of living.
Science, Technology, Values and the New Role of the Teacher During the past two decades the country has witnessed an unprecedented growth in science and technology. Some of these developments have a direct bearing on the system of education. For example, India has been able to make and launch her own geostationary satellite and back it up with a large number of earth-stations, which has brought a large part of our land under television cover. It is possible, now to install community television sets in every village and bring to the common man modern ideas of science, including ideas of preventive medicines, health care, nutrition, family planning and national integration. Similarly, rapid and truly innovative developments in micro-electronics have, ushered in the computer age. It will be good to keep in mind that this new technology will eventually bring about bigger changes than did the printing technology.
Modern technology has two aspects. the hardware and the software. While the hardware will be developed in modem factories employing highly skilled manpower, the software will have to be generated at a large number of locations involving the users. Teachers at all levels will have to be involved in this process of generating software. This involvement would certainly change the concept of the role of a teacher who need no longer be confined to the classroom. The teacher- training institutes will have to
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take note of these changes and train teachers to participate in the utilisation of these new technologies.
The involvement of teachers is important from several points of view. Firstly, past experience shows that it is not enough to install advanced technology. The society has to be prepared for absorbing and digesting it. If this climate is to be generated without delay, the users of new technologies must be involved in generating software. Secondly, we have often paid heavily for the mistake of renting or importing technology instead of generating it indigenously, the most glaring example being the tenancy armies of the East India Company. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, new technologies lead to a regrouping of value judgements. If the task of nurturing the most desirable values and weeding out false or unwise attitudes is to be entrusted to the education system, the, entire teaching community must be made aware of these aspects.
Science and technology have placed in the hands of man increasingly powerful tools to manipulate and alter his environment. There are wise and not so wise ways of doing it. If the consequences of utilising science and technology are to be realised by the common man, and if projects for development are not to degenerate into schemes for exploiting earth resources (often even the non-renewable ones), the most powerful system for shaping public opinions and values, namely, the teachers and the school will have to be harnessed urgently and effectively. This system must be made the fountain of sober thoughts. The urgency of doing this is now continuously brought home every day with increasing intensity.
The first step towards the effective utilisation of science and technology was taken by our late Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, when she enunciated that social justice must precede economic development., For the last fifteen years, our policies have been shaped by this doctrine. The advent of new technologies have given us) a unique opportunity to create the necessary will among the people. It would, therefore, be fairly obvious that preparing the teacher to play this role effectively would be an important objective of education. Whatever be the development in science and technology, the most important resource of any country is and will always be, its people, and it is the. teachers who have to develop this resource.
A New Structure of Education 3.03 The existing 10+2+3 system, though suggested as far back as 1966 by the Kothari Commission really came into effect beginning in 1975. Even today, 10 years later, one or two States have yet to formally decide to introduce the national pattern. There is also the criticism that educational changes are introduced much too frequently, without adequate preparation and sometimes withdrawn as suddenly. Hence we are not in favour of any change in the structure that has now become almost nationally accepted. The basic reasons that prompted the introduction of the 10+2+3 system still hold true. They are: -
(a) a national uniform structure, which would allow mobility across the country and thus contribute to national integration;
(b) enabling the establishment of a national standard in education.
(c) providing for bifurcation of education into academic and professional on the one hand and work preparatory and vocational, on the other hand, especially at the plus two level; and
(d) lastly, enabling the country to attain a standard which would bear international comparison, by adding one more year to the school stage, namely the 12th year and correspondingly updating the first degree to an internationally acceptable standard.
3.04 While we are for retention of the existing structure of 10+2+3. We do feel the necessity of introducing functional flexibility into it. We suggest that there should be adequate provision of vocational courses in classes IX and X as well as at the plus two level for students who have aptitude for such courses and which they find suitable for employment. We also strongly advocate necessary articulation between vocational and general courses, so that mobility, for those who are capable, is not affected.
The New Curriculum 3.05 Before proceeding with the details of the scheme of studies, the different subjects to be included at the various stages etc. an essential first step is to define and elaborate the curricular objectives of education, which at present suffer from lack of clarity. A clear articulation would make it possible to take the right decisions whether relating to the subjects and the way they are to be dealt with or the activities and experiences that are to be introduced. to reach those objectives. Evaluation must also be linked with these objectives. Once the curricular objectives have been stated with clarity and simplicity, not only would the teachers find this a great help to more effective teaching, the students too would find it easier to become real partners in the learning process.
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14 THE TEACHER AND SOCIETY
A National Core Curriculum 3.06 A Working Group set up by NCERT (1983) on the Curriculum Load and whose conclusions were presented before educationists at a National Seminar, saw the "urgent need to formulate a national common core curriculum, applicable to all the schools of the country", constituting about two-thirds of the total curriculum. To reduce information load, especially at the earlier stages, the Group recommended that there should not be more than two textbooks for Classes I and II. To acquire adequate competence in the mother tongue/regional language at the primary stage, the Group saw the need for atleast 33% of instructional time allotted to language learning. "Teaching of formal skills of reading and writing should not be attempted before the age of 5. But, informal, joyful pre-primary schooling may be introduced, particularly for the first generation learners". The Group further recommended that no formal home work should be assigned at the primary stage. Finally, regarding examinations/tests, it recommended that "there should be no public examination till Class VIII. Internal formative and summative evaluation should be carried out continuously with a view to diagnose the pupils weaknesses in warning. Subsequently, remedial teaching for those pupils who lag behind in some aspect of learning should be arranged. Time spent by teachers on remedical teaching should be considered as part of their regular work load".
3.07 In the National Conference of the Council of Boards of Secondary Education in India (COBSE) held in Goal recently, there was unanimity in making two critical recommendations :
"The Conference, keenly aware of the urgent need to promote national mobility and integration as well as to establish and improve national standards, recommends that all Boards adopt a uniform Scheme of Studies at the secondary stage, specifying the subjects to be studied compulsorily and marks and weightages to be allotted to each subject. "The Conference unanimously accepts the necessity for a national core curriculum and recommends
1 The Council of Boards of Secondary Education in India is a registered society, bringing together under the one umbrella organisation all the Boards of Education in India. COBSE provides a forum for discussion and evolution of policy directions and innovations in education.
2 To give teeth to the recommendation, the Conference adopted an implementation strategy, involving every Board in the country in the process of curriculum development and allotting specific areas of responsibility to the different Boards, divided into five Zones : Western, Southern, Central, Eastern and Northern, and specifying the time schedules for completion of the tasks, so as to have the new Core Curriculum available to the schools all over the country beginning from the 1986 academic session.
that all Boards without exception, adopt the Core Curriculum, when it is evolved. We also feel that it is essential that all the Boards accept and share the common and collective responsibility in this national task and help evolve such a curriculum in collaboration with NCERT. To ensure adequate scope and coverage to the national Core Curriculum it was agreed that this should form about 70 per cent of the total syllabus, which would then allow sufficient room for variation according to local, regional and State needs, availing of the remaining 30 per cent which may vary according to subject.2 The concept of a curriculum, consisting of a common core and a variable part to suit local conditions and needs, is as valid, we feel, for vocational courses as well.
The Quality Test: Process of Education 3.08 Content is important in education and so the need to slough off what has become clearly out of date and which belongs to yesterday and its replacement by what would be more relevant today and tomorrow. Curricular objectives should be translated and concretised into measurable and specific learning outcomes, in terms of knowledge, understanding, skills, approaches and values. Then only will it be possible for the teacher to relate the teaching-learning process to its goals and to arrive at them. This is the basic accountability of the teacher, namely searching for and using the appropriate methodologies to ensure goal attainment. The single medium teacher, using the medium of talking only, should not be allowed to continue indefinitely. Apart from orienting the new teacher, the 95 per cent or so of the existing teachers should get in-service orientation. We shall say much more on this subject matter, which appears in a later chapter.
3.09 Education has degenerated into an almost exclusively informative activity, most of which is either already dated or which, in any case will soon become easily accessible to the student through various data storage and retrieval systems. Education is meant to be a formative process, developing minds, forming interests, values, attitudes and life instances as well as cultivating skills and techniques. This is possible only when the student assumes his rightful role of being the subject of his own education rather than its object and actively participates in the process of learning instead of passively listening or submitting to teacher talk all the time. Educational reform has to start at the very beginning, with pre-primary and primary education and move on to the other levels. Even in schools considered progressively, the very young children are forced to spend 90-95 per cent of their time within
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the four walls of a classroom. One might ask how much relevant education of the young child is possible, if he has no chance to speak. to ask, to observe, to count, to estimate. to measure, or to listen to other children? The learning that results by touching, by feeling or by first hand observation is incomparably superior to what is learned from a book. While all learning experiences cannot be first-hand, neither can we condemn the young to learn exclusively through vicarious experiences all the time.
3.10 At the middle stage, if children are taught study skills so as to become independent learners,helped to develop thinking skills and intellectual curiosity. encouraged to read, not merely the comics but also reading of a more serious kind, so as to develop a culture of the mind and the discipline of the intellect through logical thinking etc., we will have given them tools that they will prize throughout their lives after they have left school. whether they are in a farm or factory, at home or in a modern office or institution.
3.11 In this context. we must also stress the tremendous handicap that results from failure to master the language. Language serves as a medium of communication, whether spoken or written. Poor linguistic ability will result in a life-long handicap for the learner of remaining an ineffective communicator apart from making performance in other subjects poor as well. If the child cannot master the second and a third language well, mastery of at least one language, be it the mother tongue or the regional language is absolutely essential for the quality of education and as much for the quality of life.
Education and Employment 3.12 With the increasing formalisation of education, resulting in greater and greater rigidities of syllabi and methodology, formal education has often proved a force for alienation from life, from the community and from work. One of the persistent complaints against our school system is that it is of too general a character to be of any practical use for the, student in his pursuit to earn a living. This, coupled with the alienation from the family's way of living and earning, whether farming, weaving, knitting carpentry, black-smithy, etc. makes education lose all credibility. Assuming that we are able to retain all or almost all children at the elementary stage, before they discontinue their education, and if, in addition to language, social science, science and arithmetic, the student is also equipped with definite motivation and elementary craftsmanship. he will not feel lost in the market of competition, will prove an asset to his family and will not become alienated from it. The urban background and perspective of the educational planners often prevent them from, taking into consideration the realities of the rural situation. in the rural sector, the many existing crafts and fields of work would be the areas of involvement for the student, sophistication and higher order skills will become possible. once a certain amount of theoretical concept formation and use of science and relevant technology are provided to back up work skills.
Socially Useful Productive Work-(SUPW) 3.13 Like the other school subjects and in fact, even more so, SUPW provides an opportunity to the students to explore their aptitudes and interests, to develop their skills, to relate meaningfully with life, its various practical demands and situations as well as to link education with the life of the community. Further, it provides much scope for cultivation of values such as social integration, dignity of work, self-reliance, co-operation, social awareness, productivity consciousness, etc. Correctly understood and implemented. SUPW becomes a powerful factor for true and total education. It does so by building bridges of interaction between, itself and all other subjects and with other co-curricular activities. Linked to productivity consciousness, it effectively generates achievement motivation and establishes standards of excellence. Thus SUPW adds a third dimension to education, giving it greater context, meaning, depth and reality. SUPW can be looked upon as a subject, but more than a subject, it is an approach to education. The Patel Committee had rightly stressed that "SUPW must dad a central place in We school curriculum".